Adjustable arch construction for shoes



ADJUSTABLE ARCH CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOES Filed Sept. 1951 (WM-HHM, @@fgwmw Humm.-

ATTORN EY Patented Nov. 1, 1932 PATENTy oFFicE mortals HIRSHFIELD, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK ADJ'STABL-E ARCH CONSTRUCTION FOR SHOES Application mea september 4, 1931. serial No. 561,175.

Y' My invention relates to shoes, andin particularto an adjustable arch construction for shoes whereby the contour or convexity of the arch may be adjusted to fit the individual requirements of the wearer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved arch for shoes which can conveniently be adj ustedv from the interior of the shoe.

the arch of ay shoe that the same may be ad justed to various heights or contours, but in such prior constructionthe mechanism forl adjusting the arch was located at'the bottom of the shoe and was manipulated :from the exterior of the latter. Such known construction suered from the serious disadvantages that the operating mechanism, which includ-l ed an adjustable screw, was exposed to the dirt and moisture with which the sole of the shoe came in Contact, while at the same time the sole of the shoe was rendered unsightly and peculiar in appearance. The operating screwin such construction was not only directly 'subjected to shocks which tended to cause creeping of the screw, but it was rusted and clogged by the moisture and the dirt which reached the same, so that adjustment Y of the arch after the shoe had been in use for some time wasa very unpleasant and oft times dii'icult task. Such known construction was also composed of a rather large num-v ber of parts and the'arrangement was such that the adjustable shank was moved positively by the screw in only an upper direction,

while the pressure of the foot was necessary to make the shank follow the downward adjustment of the screw. v

y According to the presentr invention, the

40 several parts constituting the shank and the adjusting mechanismtherefor are so related and arranged that the end ofthe screw which is engaged by the manipulating tool is accessible from the interior of the shoe, while no parts of the adjusting mechanism extend to or are visible at the sole of the shoe. The opening through which the Voperating screw is reached thus debouches into the interior of p the shoe and thus is never exposed to dirt,

moisture or other foreign matter. The ad? It has already been proposed so to construct i justment` of the arch or shank can thus be accomplished in a convenient and. clean manner.

The present invention also contemplates a novel construction whereby the shank of the shoe is positively raised andv lowered by the screw, the shank being made rigid and not' y upwardly flexing as in a prior construction known to me, so that no burden is placed upon the arch of the wearer of pressing the shank `of the shoe downwardly at every step. vA shoe constructed in accordance with the present invention is therefore less fatiguing tothe foot of the wearer, vrparticularly as my improvedshoe is designed especially for use by persons with weak arches. n Y

The accompanying drawing shows by way ofexample a preferred embodiment of the invention. In said drawing, Y

l Fig. 1 is a viewk in" elevation of a shoe equipped with an arch construction accord-l ing to the present invention, the same being shownpartly in section to reveal the struc-V ture of the adjustable shank; Fig. 2 is an enlargedview in plan of the insole of the shoe with the adjustable arch structure attached thereto ;'Fig. 31s a vertical section along the line 3.-*3 of Fig. 2; i

' Fig. 4 is a plan of the adjustable shank of the shoe;

Fig. 5 is a similar view ofthe bottom plate of the arch structure; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged verticalsection on the line 6--6 of Fig. 2.

- Referring to the drawing, the shoe l0 is provided with the usual outsole 11, linsole 12 and heel 13. Except for the novel arch constructionabout to be described, the shoe may be constructed similarly to anyknown shoe and externallycannot be distinguished from any other standard' type of shoe. s

In accordance with the present invention, theV shoe is provided with an adjustable arch structure composed of a shank V14:, a bottom plate l5, and an adjusting screwv 16. rThe shank 14 is provided with an aperture 17, preferably at the centre thereot, through which passes a nut 18 whose upper end is struck down as shown at 19, sothat the shank 14 is rigidly clamped between such struck down portion 19 and a shoulder 20 on the nut. The screw 16 is threaded into the nut 18 and is reduced in diameter at its lower end to provide a shoulder 21 which bears against the upper surface of the plate 15, the reduced end of the nut passing through a suitable aperture in such plate. The free end of the reduced section of the screw is struck down over the surface of the plate 15 as shown at 22, such struck down portion loosely engaging the plate so as to permit rotation of the screw. lf desired, a rivet having a head larger than the aperture in plate 15 may be an-v chored in the reduced end of the screw instead of striking down the lower end of the-screw. lt will be r -adily seen from Fig. 6 that in the construction described and illustrated, the nut 18 is held. stationary upon the shank 14, while the screw 16 is held by the plate 15 againstvairial or longitudinal movement but is fre-e to rotate, so that upon rotation of the screw, the shank 11i is forced positively toward or away from the plate 15 to alter the elevation or contour of the arch.

T he plate 15 is securely attached to the insole of the shoe in any suitable manner, as by means of nails or rivets 23 which pass through holes 2li near the end of the plate. In order to strengthen and stiden the plate and separate it from the shank, the saine may be provided with corrugation 25 or other suitable reinforcing means.

The shank 14 is attached loosely to the Y plate 15 by means of rivets or equivalent means 26 passing through registering openings 26 andf27 in the plateA and shank, respectively. The openings 27 are of slightly larger diameter than the openings 26, and hence larger than the stems of the rivets, so as to allow for the relative movement between shank and plate when the shank is adjusted vertically. lf desired, the openings 2( may be replaced by elongated slots whose length is equal to the diameter of the openings 27 and whose width is equal to the diameter of the openings 26.

The screw 16 may be provided with a slot 28 for engagement by a screwdriver for adjusting the arch. The insole of the shoe is apertured directly above the screw 16 and may be provided with an eyelet to prevent fraying of the edges of the opening. I

As can readily be seen from lthe drawing, my improved arch construction in no way alters the external appearance of the shoe. The only exposed portion of the arch construction is the screw 16 which, however, faces the interior of the shoe and thus is in no danger of collecting dirt or of being rusted by the moisture of the street. Adjust-ment of the arch can be readily accomplished by inserting a screw driver into the slot 28 and suitably rotating the screw, for

which operation it is not even necessary to touch the sole of the shoe.

My improved arch construction can therefore be adjusted in a very simple manner without soiling of the hands. As already indicated, the shank 1li is always under the direct control of the screw andV is held in adjusted position by the `latter,:i io pressure requiring to be exerted by the foot upon the shank to hold the same in engagement with the screw. My improved adjustable arch structure is composed of very few parts and can readily be manufactured on a large scale at a low cost.

lt will be evident that the insole and the` arch structure may be assembled outside Vof the shoe and placed in the latter as a unit. lt will be understood howeverthat the insole may be dispensed withand the arch support held in place within the shoe in any other thereof, l avoid an Aundesirable degree ofl relative movement between such shank and plate while the shoe is in use which would otherwisey occur if irregular surfaces are stepped upon by the wearer. This construction thus protects the screw and nut mecha-` nism against excessive strains as such strains. are taken up by the rivets. `'lhese rivets alsov limit the longitudinal movement of the shank with respect to the plate and take the strain when the shank shifts relatively to the plate, so that the screw isrelieved'of torsionaland shearing stresses. i

l claim: j l

1. 1n an arch construction for shoes,..in combination, an insole, a shank member, a plate member below said shank member in contact therewith and fixed at its ends to said insole, means loosely connecting said shank and plate members, said insole and shank member being provided, with registering openings, and an adjusting screw'threaded into the opening in said shank member and bearing against said plate member, said screw being accessible from the interior of the shoe through said registering openings.

2. ln an arch construction for shoes, in

combination, an insole, a shank member, `a. plate member below said shank member in'v contact therewith and fixed at `its ends to said insole, means loosely connecting said 4shank and plate members. said insole and shank meinberprovided with registering openings, a nut positioned within the opening in the shank member and rigidly secured to the latter, and an adjusting screw threaded into said nut and bearing against said plate'member, said scr-ew being accessible from the interior of the shoe through said registering openinO'. y

i in

3. In an arch construction for shoes, in combination, an insole, a shank member, a plate member below said shank memb-er in Contact therewith and iiXed at its ends to said insole, means loosely connecting said shank and plate members, said insole and shank member provided with registering openings, and a screw threaded into one of said members and bearing Xedly against the other member v for adjusting the shank member relatively to said plate member, said screw being accessible from the interior of the shoe.

.hIn an arch construction for shoes, in combination, an insole, ai shank member, a plate member below saidV shank member and iXed at its ends to said insole, registering openings inV said shank and plate members, the openings in said yshank member being larger than those in said plate member, rivets passing through said openings and loosely connecting such members, registering openings in said insole and shank member, a nut positioned within the opening in the shank member and rigidly secured to the latter, and an adjusting screw threaded into said nut and bearing against both sides of the plate member so as to be held against axial movement thereby, said screw being accessible 'from the interior of theshoe through the opening in the insole. i

5. In an arch construction for shoes, in combination, an insole, a shank member, a plate member below said shank member in contact therewith and iiXed at its end to said insole, said plate being rigid in construction and said shank member capable of flexing toward and away from said plate member, means loosely connecting said shank and plate members, said insole and shank member being provided with registering openings, and an adjusting screw threaded into one of rsaid members and bearing iiXedly against the other member and held by the latter against axial movement, said screw being accessible from the interior of the shoe through the opening in the insole. l

6. In an arch construction for shoes, incombination, a shank member, a plate member below saidV shank'member, registering openings in said plate and shank members at the ends of the latter, the openings in said shank member being larger than those in said plate member, rivets passing through said openings and loosely connecting such members, and an adjusting screw associated with said members and accessible from the interior of the shoe Jfor varying the curvature of the shank member.

7. An adjustable arch construction for shoes comprising, in combination, a shank member, a rigid plate member below said shank member in contact therewith, the end extremities of one of said members resting uponthe surface of the other member and adapted to slide thereon, means loosely connectingthe ends of said plate and shank members and holding the same against lateral displacement but permitting longitudinal sliding of one member upon the other, said shank member being provided with an aperture, a nut positioned in said aperture, and an adjustabl-e screw threaded into said nut and connected with the plate member and operable to effect relative adjustment of said members.

j 8. In an arch construction for shoes," in combination, .an insole, a rigid plate at the underside of said insole and connected therewith, a shank lying'between said plate and insole, a Y single adjusting screw associated with said shank and plate and adapted upon rotation thereof to vary the curvature of the shank, said shankand plate connected at both V,ends of the shank lin a manner to permit rel- York and State of New York this 3rd day of September A. D. 1931.

MORRIS HIRSHFIELD. 

